The history of motorcycles has been a tale largely of evolving on a familiar and effective formula, which suits its origins as a petrol-powered version of a form of transport already widely used.

This is one of the reasons why attending a motorcycle driving school is so important; once you learn how to ride one bike effectively, it does not take a lot of adjustments to effectively ride any other bike.

However, some bikes were either so effective, so striking or so unbelievably good compared to the standards of the era that they changed and influenced every bike that came after them.

Here are some of the best ones.

Vincent Black Shadow

An almost revered name in the world of motorcycles, a 1949 restored model sold at auction for nearly £120,000. This is more than a lot of supercars and it was probably worth every penny to the person who bought it.

The Vincent Black Shadow was, at the time, the world’s faster production motorcycle, reaching speeds of up to 125mph. The journal Motor Cycle gushed about it being a bike for “connoisseurs”, with near-perfect performance, handling and braking.

What helped this was that the Black Shadow was one of the first bikes made with lightness in mind, and many consider it to be the world’s first superbike.

Britten V1000

In the early 1990s, the big names in biking were at the top of their game, with the Japanese Big Four (Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki and Yamaha) only challenged in terms of dominance by Ducati.

Enter John Britten, a mechanical engineer from Christchurch, New Zealand who developed his own company in 1992 to design lightweight self-designed bikes and engines.

Whilst a common story in the world of bikes and cars, the difference here was that he won a lot of races and set the fastest top speed at the legendary Isle of Man TT in 1993, as well as winning the New Zealand National Superbike Championship in 1994.

Suzuki Hayabusa

Many bikes take some time to make an impact or become influential names in the world of motorbikes. However, it did not take long at all for the Hayabusa to become a deeply admired name.

It quickly set the record for the fastest production bike in the world, and its speed and capabilities were such that an informal agreement was made between manufacturers to limit the top speed of motorcycles starting in 2000, meaning that the 1999 GSX1300R could remain the fastest production bike ever made.